Due to energy security and environmental benefits, the alternative fuel market has grown to over 500 million gallons per year. Likewise, the overall biofuels market has shown tremendous growth, topping 5 billion gallons per year due to even greater energy security and environmental benefits, in addition to agricultural development advantages. Similarly, the chemicals industry is re-tooling itself to produce many platform chemicals from renewable resources, such as biomass. With domestic federal and state incentives in place to encourage continued alternative fuel and biofuel growth, these markets promise to continue to encompass an increasing share of the 140+ billion gallon gasoline and 40+ billion gallon diesel markets.
Propane is the most widely consumed alternative fuel in the United States, with current total propane demand topping 21 billion gallons per year, driven by residential and commercial (45%), petrochemicals (38%), industrial (7%), farming (7%), and transportation (3%) uses. However, no economic route to renewable propane is currently known. Likewise, the markets for propylene and ethylene, feedstocks for the production of engineering plastics, are estimated to be well in excess of 50 billion tons per annum, each.